Hunterdon Central, Delaware Valley, Voorhees girls basketball roundup

Hunterdon Central guard Danielle Andre, here sandwiched between Bridgewater-Raritan defenders in a Jan. 19 game, hit a pair of first-quarter buckets Saturday to help the Red Devils get off to a strong start in their 43-32 Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex County Tournament victory over Newton. Central hosts Delaware Valley in Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup. ( (Photo by George Pacciello/staff photographer))

The Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex County Tournament isn’t a favorite topic for plenty of basketball coaches — or those involved in many other sports — but it can have a considerable up side, too.

That’s something Amy Cooke pointed out late Saturday afternoon after her Hunterdon Central High squad, bouncing back from the previous night’s lopsided loss to North Hunterdon, knocked off Newton 43-32 in opening-round action of the tri-county event at the HCHS field house.

“Obviously last night was tough in a lot of ways,” said the Red Devils’ head coach, “but the good thing about having the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex tournament is we did have this game where we could turn around and play again today and put that behind us quickly. That was definitely a positive.

“And we try to look at this tournament as kind of being separate from the season, so let’s just take it one game at a time.”

“We knew it was going to be a tough game yesterday,” she said, “but coming back today we just had to shake it off and play our best. We just wanted to do whatever it takes to win and we came out on the court ready to go.”

The Devils were, racing out to a big early lead, and now will be home again for Saturday’s 2 p.m. quarterfinal test with Delaware Valley.

Wilson drove in for the game’s first two buckets against the Braves’ man-to-man defense less than 40 seconds following the opening tip-off, starting HCHS on its way against Group 2 school Newton (7-10), which had been seeded seventh in the Sussex bracket.

Central soon had a 10-point lead and the Braves never got closer than seven the rest of the way. Jessica Dreswick, a 6-2 soph, added 12 points against Newton, which had some decent size up front but had trouble coping with Wilson’s agility in the low post, especially in the opening half when she scored nine points.

“I knew me and Jess had to go up against big girls,” said Wilson, “but if our team could get the ball down to us, we just had to do our best to get it in the basket.”

“We thought we had an advantage inside with Carli and Jess, plus Melissa LaMotta has been playing very well,” said Cooke. “So we thought we could set the tone, and we were able to do that.”

Central, which has lost standout senior Keri Steele to a knee injury for the rest of the season, also utilized most of its bench, with Cooke substituting early and often.

“That’s something we’ve been doing, giving a lot of people playing time,” she said. “I think that will help us down the stretch because teams will have trouble focusing on just one person if a lot of players are contributing.”

Central took command of the game midway through the first quarter, reeling off nine unanswered points for a 15-5 lead.

Wilson began the streak with a free throw after being fouled on the offensive boards and LaMotta’s outside shot, following a MacKenzie Roden steal, put the Devils up 9-5. Another turnover by Newton resulted in Wilson’s inside basket, senior guard Danielle Andre made a steal-and-layup and moments later drove in for a left-handed shot off the glass and the HCHS margin was 15-5 with 1:45 to go.

The Braves got within 19-12 on Tara Lynch’s three-point shot against the Devils’ 3-2 zone with 4:39 left in the half. But LaMotta, out-wrestling two bigger Braves for an offensive rebound, converted the shot and canned the free throw after she was fouled on the play. Dreswick scored off of her own bound for a 24-12 lead with 3:29 to go and the HCHS lead was never less than double digits again.

Newton, which shot 5 for 25 from the floor in the first half, trailed 28-16 at the break and the Devils’ lead was as much as 19 (at 37-18) in the second half.

Steele, who suffered a torn meniscus cartilage Jan. 19 against Bridgewater-Raritan, had knee surgery Thursday at Morristown Medical Center and was on crutches watching Saturday’s game.

North Hunterdon 51, HCHS 24 — With its trapping defense forcing numerous Central turnovers, visiting NHHS scored the game’s first 14 points Friday on the way to its second Skyland Conference victory over the Red Devils this season.

The Lions were up 15-2 after the opening period and 23-13 at halftime before putting the game away with an 18-9 third quarter.

Alissa Tarsi led NHHS with 16 points and five rebounds, hitting all six of her field-goal tries in the low-post area. Steph Zengel had 10 points and Jessica Pellechio, who got into first-half foul trouble and spent some time on the bench, hit a pair of treys and finished with nine points.

Central reserve Melissa LaMotta, who shot 5 for 7, scored 13 points and Jessica Dreswick grabbed eight rebounds for the home team. Soph forward Carli Wilson, who’s been the Devils’ top scoring threat since Keri Steele was injured, was held to four points, all from the foul line. The Devils shot 8 for 22 from the field and committed 24 turnovers.

HCHS 55, Franklin 54 — Wilson’s layup with eight seconds left in overtime put the visiting Devils ahead by a point and LaMotta sank two free throws two seconds later for a 55-52 lead against Franklin (8-6) in a Jan. 31 game.

LaMotta (13 points) had hit a free throw with 25 seconds remaining in regulation to give Central a 44-42 lead but Shalette Brown pulled the Warriors into a tie with 0:10 left, forcing the OT. Franklin quickly went ahead by four in the extra session but the Devils battled back.

Wilson scored 10 of her team-high 14 points in the fourth period and OT and Julie Alesi had 10 points in the game for the Devils, who led 24-18 at the half before the Warriors outscored them 15-7 in the third period. HCHS sank 22 of 28 free throws, including 12 of 15 during the last three minutes of regulation and OT.

DELAWARE VALLEY

Although just a Group 2 school, DelVal has been quite a handful for Hunterdon Central in recent years, and the Terriers expect that trend to continue Saturday when the teams tangle at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex County Tournament in the Central field house.

DelVal, whose Jan. 21 regular-season game against HCHS was cancelled because of snow, fell at Central 46-43 a year ago but had beaten the Red Devils the previous two seasons. In 2008, Central won by five points.

“I think it’ll be interesting,” said DelVal Head Coach Jeff Capone. “We’ve just always played them tough. They’ve always been manageable games for us, where you have a chance to win at the end. I tell my girls you always want to just give yourself a chance at the end.”

The Terriers had no problem doing that in Saturday’s first-round tri-county tourney contest, expanding a two-point halftime cushion to prevail 53-40 over Pope John in Sparta.

Justine Doran, a 5-foot-5 sophomore guard, paced a balanced attack for DelVal (8-6) with 17 points, many on fast-break layups, while Allie Nordeen added 13 along with seven rebounds and four blocked shots.

“Justine is very mentally tough — she just doesn’t think anything can stop her,” said Capone. “And the good thing about her is that she’s learning. She has that mind-set to take it to the rim, but will now kick it back outside instead of driving in and getting her shot blocked. Now she’ll stop and kick it out to an open teammate for a better finish. She’s been doing that more consistently. Allie also played really well.”

Junior guard Shannon Croasdale had 10 points, senior Taryn Mikulicz scored eight and came up with five steals and 5-10 senior forward Ryan Wilson snagged nine boards. The Terriers also got a lift from junior reserve guard Alyssa Ferraro, who dished out three quick assists and made a steal.

Doran also played strong defense against Pope John’s 1000-point scorer, senior guard Alexis Breheny, holding her to nine points. Capone pointed out the Terriers got the kind of overall performance they needed after also winning on the road the night before against Voorhees, 52-35.

“All the starters played very well,” he said, “and after the way we played last night (at Voorhees), playing that hard, we needed everyone to come through. Plus, we got some help from Aly off the bench. It was definitely a team effort.”

The Terriers were up just 24-22 at halftime Saturday afternoon but then got their offense clicking better against the Lions’ man-to-man defense in the third quarter and outscored the home team (9-8) by a 20-12 difference before finishing off the victory with a 9-6 final-period edge.

“It was very intense basketball,” said Capone. “Their kids aren’t very big but they’re very tough, very strong, and play physical. It’s kind of the way we play. They’re like a mirror of us.

“At the end of the first half you could see we started to wear them down. We didn’t press but we were getting the defensive rebounds and hitting the outlets and running the ball down the court very quickly, and they were getting back on defense but were doing it just a bit slower. We got a few run-outs for easy baskets. These girls just never get tired. They just keep going and pushing it.”

In Friday’s Skyland Conference-Raritan Division triumph at Voorhees, Mikulicz canned a pair of treys and totaled 12 points while Doran (11) and Nordeen (10) also were in double figures. Capone, whose teams had never beaten VHS on the varsity level until this season, took both games from the Vikings this winter.

Croasdale added eight points for the Terriers, who controlled the boards and were getting loose for fast-break opportunities. DelVal was ahead 12-4 after the opening quarter and 25-11 by halftime before outscoring the Vikings 19-7 in the third period.

DelVal 55, North Plainfield 43 — The Terriers canned nine shots from three-point range — four by Mikulicz — during their Jan. 31 triumph over visiting North Plainfield (5-10).

Mikulicz topped DelVal with 18 points, Doran added 10, Croasdale hit a pair of treys and totaled eight points, Grace Guggenheim also sank two three-pointers and Olivia Brogan had the other one. The Terriers stretched a four-point first-quarter lead to 24-14 by halftime.

VOORHEES

The Vikings lost for the fifth time in their last six outings Saturday afternoon, dropping a 51-37 decision to Kittatinny in opening-round action of the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex County Tournament in Newton.

Seeded No. 2 in the Sussex bracket, Kittatinny (14-4) was without two players and Head Coach Andy Meyers, who were ejected from a Jan. 31 game at Hackettstown following an on-court fight. As per NJSIAA regulations, they were suspended for two games.

But the Cougars still came out strong against Voorhees (7-11), seeded seventh in Hunterdon-Warren, as they raced to an 18-6 first-quarter lead and built the margin to 32-16 by halftime.

Kelsey Koch had 23 points for Kittatinny while Kelly Reilly (15) and Allison Davis (11) were in double figures for the Vikes.

Shannon Croasdale added eight points for the Terriers, who were up 12-4 after the opening quarter and 25-11 by halftime before outscoring the Vikings 19-7 in the third period. Reilly topped the Vikes with eight points and also had five assists and four rebounds.

VHS 58, Wallkill Valley 39 — Up by just four points at halftime Feb. 1, the host Vikings outscored the Sussex bracket’s last-seeded team (1-13) by a 22-8 margin in the third period to take a 46-28 lead in the tri-county tourney preliminary-round clash.

Davis topped VHS with 14 points, six in the third stanza, Amanda Ocello and Reilly had 10 apiece and Jessica Kapral six.

Phillipsburg 77, VHS 33 — The Lady Liners (8-2), who were up 19-5 after the opening stanza and 41-15 at halftime, shot 54 percent from the floor Jan. 31 while coasting past the visiting Vikings.

Loren Kaiser’s 18 points paced three double-figure scorers for P’burg while Reilly had nine points for VHS, which connected on 13 of 44 shots (30 percent).